Jurassic Park Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
Jurassic Park is set on an island off Costa Rica where the billionaire John Hammond has cloned dinosaurs for a theme park. A team of experts, including paleontologist Alan Grant and mathematician Ian Malcolm, is invited to approve it, but sabotage shuts down the security systems and the animals break free.
The novel explores chaos theory and the risks of genetic engineering.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Alan Grant | Paleontologist |
| Ellie Sattler | Paleobotanist working with Grant |
| Ian Malcolm | Mathematician and chaos theorist |
| John Hammond | Founder of the park |
| Tim and Lex | Hammond's grandchildren |
| Dennis Nedry | Disgruntled computer programmer |
| Robert Muldoon | Game warden |
| Henry Wu | Chief geneticist |
| Donald Gennaro | Investors' lawyer |
How were the dinosaurs created?
Hammond's company, InGen, extracted dinosaur DNA from blood in mosquitoes preserved in amber and filled the gaps with frog DNA. All the animals were made female so they could not breed. Strange animal attacks on the mainland worry the investors, and their lawyer Gennaro brings Grant, Sattler and Malcolm to inspect the island. Malcolm predicts the system is bound to fail.
↑ Back to the topWhat goes wrong?
During a tour in electric cars with Hammond's grandchildren, a storm hits. Dennis Nedry, the underpaid programmer, has been bribed by a rival company to steal frozen embryos. He shuts down the security systems to escape, and the electric fences go dead. Nedry gets lost in the rain and is killed by a venom-spitting Dilophosaurus.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens when the T. rex escapes?
The Tyrannosaurus breaks out and attacks the tour cars. Grant escapes with Tim and Lex into the park, and Malcolm is badly injured. Grant leads the children through the night across the island, escaping dinosaurs on a river raft and climbing past an aviary. Along the way, Grant finds dinosaur eggs: the frog DNA allowed some animals to change sex and breed.
↑ Back to the topHow do the raptors threaten everyone?
At the control center, chief engineer Arnold tries to restore power, and the Velociraptors escape. They kill Arnold and Dr. Wu and besiege the lodge. Tim, who knows computers, restores the systems. Hammond, wandering outside, falls down a hill and is killed by tiny Procompsognathus.
↑ Back to the topHow does Jurassic Park end?
Grant realizes some raptors have been trying to migrate off the island. He leads a party to the raptor nest to count the animals, confirming they have bred beyond the park's records. The Costa Rican authorities arrive and firebomb the island. Malcolm appears to die of his injuries. In a final scene, the survivors learn that unidentified animals have been seen migrating through the jungle on the mainland.
↑ Back to the topMore about Jurassic Park
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.